Preservation of affordable housing units in a gentrifying neighborhood and creation of a community food pantry

Firehouse Place, Hamilton, Massachusetts

At BCC, we know it is important to remember the past as we take strides towards building strong communities for the future. That’s why we partnered with Harborlight Community Partners to preserve “We see Firehouse Place as a lynchpin to demonstrate to the North Shore that they can create contextually sensitive, properly scaled affordable housing.” Firehouse Place, a historic building in a gentrifying neighborhood in Hamilton, MA. A loan from BCLF helped preserve affordable housing units and- to the delight of the community- a food pantry that serves the entire town. In financing the Firehouse Place project, BCC helped to build the capacity of a local nonprofit developer, with the confidence that Harborlight Community Developers expand their sphere of influence in other projects like Firehouse Place. Andrew DeFranza, the executive director of Harborlight, says of the project, “We see Firehouse Place as a lynchpin to demonstrate to the North Shore that they can create contextually sensitive, properly scaled affordable housing that is driven by the community.”